Oh… what could have been. Husker quarterback Noah Vedral entered his name into the NCAA’s transfer portal this week.
The junior, who played at Bishop Newmann High School in Wahoo, began his college career at the University of Central Florida, who were led by their new head coach Scott Frost. Vedral followed Frost to Nebraska and was forced to walk-on because of the old NCAA transfer rules that allowed schools to block players seeking another scholarship opportunity.
When Vedral returned to his home state he wasn’t just following coach Frost, he was following a dream. I mean, what red blooded Nebraska boy doesn’t grow up wanting to be the staring quarterback for the Huskers?… hoping to one day run out onto the pristine field turf of Memorial Stadium… with the roar of the crowd… fans screaming until they are hoarse… with Sirius blaring loudly from the speakers.
And being a Husker is kind of a family tradition for the Vedrals. Noah’s father, Mike Vedral, was a tight end from 1990-92, and three of his uncles also played for the Huskers. Jon Vedral was a wingback from 1994-96 and was a teammate of Frost’s. Mark Vedral was a linebacker from 1998-2001. Matt Turman was a backup quarterback from 1994-96 and, as a walk-on, helped keep the ’94 national championship season alive when he was the emergency starter in win at Kansas State.
Noah appeared in six games last season serving as the Huskers primary backup quarterback and made two starts in place of the injured Adrian Martinez. He also came off the bench to lead Nebraska to a win against Northwestern.
We know that last year, for whatever reason, Martinez didn’t live up to all the pre-season Heisman hype. Despite that, it’s a fact that going into this upcoming season it’s his job to lose… and the race for 2nd on the depth chart includes to very promising youngsters who are both on scholarship… Luke McCaffery and Logan Smothers. Vedral could see the writing on the wall, youth will be served. And with that, a very talented, intelligent Nebraska boy gives up his Husker dream. Sad huh?
Vedral will be a graduate transfer, which means he can play anywhere next season, and he still has two years of eligibility remaining. Sound like a pretty good deal for any coaches out there looking for a quality starting quarterback.
Which brings me to my next point… Not so long ago there was another young man with two years of eligibility remaining who wanted come to Nebraska to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming the Husker’s starting quarterback. His name… Joe Burrow. You may have heard of him… Set a bunch of passing records this past season… Won the Heisman Trophy… won a National Championship at LSU… was the top pick in the NFL Draft. Yeah… That Guy. Whoops! And the fact that when coach Frost was asked about adding Burrow his somewhat snarky response was “is he better that what we have?” Ummmm… maybe?
So with that in mind… I wish Noah Vedral all the future success that he deserves… just (please oh please) not Joe Burrow kinda success.
